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Odet
Odet is a term used to describe the language, peoples and cultural artifacts of the neighboring dimension, Oden Tal. Uses in CoD Oden Tal is one of the more frequently used neighboring cultures, and to date, it has been visited by various characters (both on and offscreen) close to a dozen times. Numerous characters that have appeared or been referenced originated from this dimension, and several characters have demonstrated fluency in the language, which is occasionally used as a way to encode verbal messages in the presence of villains or outsiders to prevent overhearing or eavesdropping. Characters who have demonstrated fluency include: *Andrade *Angel *Connor Aurelius *Denna Pryce *Jheira *Kiin *Lily Starr-Masters *Tahiri *Wesley Wyndham-Pryce *Winifred Burkle *Yazdan Zayn Odet as a spoken language Speaking Odet is a highly complicated matter for novice speakers, as it has an extremely homophonous syntax (that is, repetitive words whose meanings are numerous and change both by inflection and context). It also is divided into several regional dialects. As a result, a definitive English-to-Odet dictionary has never been made, and probably never will. However, below is a pronunciation guide for reading transliterated Odet: Odet as a written language The alphabet in Oden Tal has regional differences, and depending on the province, contains one to three thousand unique calligraphic characters. Very few CoD characters, even ones of Odet heritage, can read or write in the language, though characters that have demonstrated (to varying degrees) the ability to do so include: *Connor Aurelius *Denna Pryce Odet as a species The Odet are a humanoid, mammalian species--definable by their warm blood, hair and the ability to nurse their young. However, unlike most mammals, they do not give live birth, but carry their offspring in semi-large, soft-shelled eggs that hatch during the laying 98% of the time (the other 2% being when the eggs do not hatch until fully outside the body). The gestation period for male offspring is six weeks; it is eight weeks for female offspring. Pregnancy is detectable within four days of conception--at which point the hormones and proteins inherent in pregnancy cause the mother's blood to change from red to clear. Though they are humanoid, the Odet are easily distinguishable from humans via a number of internal and external anatomical differences. Notable internal differences include a completely dissimilar neural network, particularly in the spine, a core temperature of 102°F and the heart being aligned in the right side of the chest. More noticeable are the species' facial ridges, located over the cheekbones of females in distinct patterns as unique to each woman as fingerprints. In males, the ridges are fewer in number and less distinct in pattern, and are located centrally along the brow. In males and females alike, a distinctive, identifying feature is that, unlike many other mammals, they have no navel, or "belly button." This is because the navel is a scar from losing the umbilical cord, and as the Odet develop in eggs rather than an amniotic sac with a placenta, they have no umbilical cord. Another highly noticeable feature of the Odet is the ko, a complex formation of nerves, glands, cartilage and vestigial wing joints located exterally in males and females alike over the uppermost part of the spinal cord. It is this most unusual section of the brain that controls the unique abilities of the Odet--a limited form of pyrokinesis emanating from the hands is the most common ability amongst the species as a whole, though they also possess extremely powerful sexual pheromones that many can mentally control. Other gifts include varying degrees of telekinesis, greater degrees of pyrokinesis, and nearly exclusive to the royal and noble families is the ability to "phase" through walls or objects (that is, to walk through them as if they were not there--it has been speculated that this gift is the result of several generations of class-conscious inbreeding). The ko is where these abilities come from, but more importantly, it seems to be the center for many individualistic personality traits. It is an extremely vulnerable place on the body, and injury to it can cause incalculable, irrepairable damage to neural functions, and in the case of the subspecies MorvSidh it is known to cause death. Total removal from Odet females is often used to create a permanent walking but mentally vegetative state. A fascinating side note on the ko is that it is a highly erogenous zone, and can not only control arousal, but signify it as well. The Odet have extremely high metabolisms, and most require an entire quarter of their body weight in food a day. It has been theorized that this relates to their very unique aging. Both age in cyclical metamorphosis, females every five years, males every few weeks in the first year of life, with gradual gap increases over time. No research has been done at this time to determine the average Odet life span. Odet characters Though many have appeared over time, some of the more prominently featured characters of Odet heritage have been: *Andrade *Denna Pryce *Jheira *Kiin *Tahiri *Tristan Pryce *Yazdan Zayn Category:Species Category:Odet Category:Mixed Universe POV